2025 video still: Msaki, Jesse Clegg, Sjava - Wayside Lover (Official Music Video) — Msaki and Jesse Clegg / YouTube
Msaki, born Asanda Lusaseni Mvana in East London in 1988, is a singer-songwriter whose guitar-led indie folk and Afro-soul runs parallel to a second life as one of South African house music's most trusted voices. She started out in 2008 with the rock band The Patience, holds a Master of Fine Arts from Rhodes University, and has released independently through her own label, One Shushu Day Artistry, since her 2013 debut EP Nal'ithemba.
'Fetch Your Life', with Prince Kaybee, is certified six-times platinum and 'Sondela', with TRESOR, three-times platinum, while her album Platinumb Heart won Best Adult Contemporary Album at the 2022 SAMAs. Named Best House Artist at the 2024 Mzansi Kwaito and House Music Awards, she returns in February 2026 with Entropy, a collaborative EP with Jesse Clegg born of a friendship forged through mutual grief, led by 'Wayside Lover' featuring Sjava.
Scatterlings: Johnny Clegg Reimagined brings contemporary South African artists into conversation with Johnny Clegg’s catalogue, showing that legacy can remain open, moving and alive.
Zakes Bantwini, Jesse Clegg and Msaki’s 2026 house reinterpretation of “The Crossing” gives Johnny Clegg’s grief-marked classic another communal space to live in.
Thandiswa Mazwai’s Sankofa Heritage Festival marked 30 years in music and a 50th birthday milestone, but the real story is how King Tha has made preservation itself feel rebellious.
Brandon Aura’s “Run Boy” takes words once associated with childhood fear and gives them another purpose, turning a memory of escape into an intimate folk-pop meditation on survival, movement and belonging.
Tribute to Women 2026 brings Msaki, Sjava, Mafikizolo, Nomfundo Moh and Busiswa to Marks Park for a Women’s Month concert shaped by music, memory and the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Women’s March.
SAMA32’s shortlist shows a South African music industry no longer defined by one centre. From Durban Gqom to Maskandi, Amapiano, Jazz, Gospel and regional scenes, the country’s sound is spreading power across many hubs.
Webtickets lists Msaki on the bill for the annual Tribute to Women day festival at Marks Park in Emmarentia. Gates open 11am and the event ends at 7pm; children under 5 enter free.
Msaki headlines the Sunset Music Series with Thando Zide at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden in Roodepoort. Gates open 1pm and the concert ends at 5pm.
